What is a high powered rifle?

[EHCRain10]

Often times during the news, there are incidents that involve long guns and these guns are referred to as "High Powered Rifles", even though sometimes they turn out to be nothing more than a 22lr of some sort

What would you guys refer to as a high powered rifle?
just wondering what you guys think on the terms usage.

i wouldn't use it for anything less than a semi-auto 308 but thats just MHO

 

[El Tejon]

Centerfire.

 

[RKBABob]

Centerfire.

That leaves out the high powered .22lr rifles... they can propel a bullet at much greater velocities than a handgun can. Plus .22 is 13 more than 9mm, so its gotta be powerful!

It makes me when I hear all the adjectives the press use when they haven't a clue what they're writing about. "High powered hunting rifle"... well i certainly hope so! It would be pretty cruel to hunt with a "Woefully underpowered hunting rifle" or even a "merely adequate rifle".

 

[Mikee Loxxer]

When the term high power rifle is used the word “power” refers to the kinetic energy it imparts to a target. Clearly a .30’06 is going to impart a great deal more kinetic energy to it’s target than a .22LR would when being fired at the same range.

 

[bruss01]

I don't know if there is a technical definition for this term but I would suppose it refers to a rifle that is:

Not a .22 lr
Not a pistol caliber carbine

 

[rcmodel]

Saw a pick-up truck fire on the K.C. TV news the other day.

The breathless reporter said the guy had an automatic rifle and a "cache" of powerful ammo in the truck, which prevented the Fire Department from doing their job.

Then they showed a slightly singed 10/22, and what was left of a brick of .22 LR ammo he had stashed behind the seat!


rcmodel

 

[zinj]

I'm pretty sure the original meaning of "High Powered Rifle" was centerfire over 6mm caliber.

 

[Funderb]

apparently anything bigger than a daisy red ryder is a high powered rifle,
including those 1000 fps pellet rifles.

 

[Neo-Luddite]

Really arbitrary, but does have a vallid definition in that sanctioned 'high power' matches are open only to certain types of rifles. To the media it means virtually any rifle on the planet.

Calibers such as .223 and 7.62 x 39 would historically be excluded--but many folks use specialized 5.56 in high power competition now--so .223 rem and others might not be 'varmint' cartridges to some anymore. The .30 cal cut-off wouldn't be entirely fair anymore (thoughi would place the line somewhere at 30/30 or .303 Brit).

 

[Jeffreii]

Hmmm....I would say it would be a powered rifle for use up high. Perhaps on some high roads. Probably a lot of them up in the white mountains. Maybe one for over 50,000 ft. What elevation is the high road at? I would put it at the same as the roads. No 50,000 ft roads, so guess we're back to the white mts. Lots of high roads there.

What about a medium powered rifle? or a low powered one? How about one for below sea level for use in death valley? beats me.

Being powered probably means it is 'loaded' with ammo. So a rifle that is unloaded would probably be an unpowered rifle. So I guess a high powered one would be any rifle that is loaded with ammo for use up in the mountains.

 

[esq_stu]

When I was a kid, I thought of all center-fire rifles as "high powered rifles." But then I did not own any guns personally and my household only had .22s.

Now that I have several centerfire rifles, I think the term means whatever the user of the word means and there is no accepted definition. My most "powerful" rifles are .308. But that refers to the ammo. Someone in the anti-gun crowd might also consider whether my guns are cosmetically impaired (by pistol grips, black polymer furniture, etc.) or has a "high capacity (e.g., more than a few rounds) magazine and not the velocity or energy of the projectile. I'm not aware of an accepted definition.

Among gun hobbyists it might mean something like .375 H&H or .50 BMG (or something else too painful to shoot), even if it's single shot.

 

[rcmodel]

I always understood it to mean a center-fire bottle-neck caliber rifle.

When I was a boy growing up in the 1950's, the neighbor on the next section over with a 30-06 Springfield, or a 30-40 Krag, or a 270 Model 70 had a high-power rifle.

The other neighbor down the road with a .22 Hornet bolt-action and a 44-40 lever-gun didn't have one.

I'm not even too sure he would have had one if that lever-gun had been a 30-30!


rcmodel

 

[gbran]

Next time some newswriter uses that term, we ought to email them asking just what their definition is regarding "high powered rifle".

 

[TexasRifleman]

Any rifle used to commit a crime is "high powered".

 

[230RN]

Long time ago I calc'lated the power necessary to get a .22 40 gr. bullet up to its muzzle energy of about 110 ft-lb out of an 18" rifle barrel. I forget what the time factor was that I used for barrel time, maybe 3 or 4 milliseconds, but it came out to about 90 horsepower.

 

[El Tejon]

It's got to be defined somewhere, right? It's not just what "I think it is" or "to me it is X".

Anyone have a book handy? Jim Carmichael's book or the NRA dictionary?

 

[silverking]

That's easy to answer--------any weapon, long gun or handgun, is a high powered weapon to the media.

That's a good idea to send an e-mail to these reporters asking them to define their idea of high powered weapons.

 

[jrou111]

A high, powdered rifle is a rifle who has done too much cocane.

A high powered rifle is a rifle who has been taking empowerment courses, and is high.

-or-

A high powered rifle is a rifle that is above arms reach, and runs off 110v ac.

 

[KINGMAX]

Centerfire rifle

I would say that a centerfire rifle would be my consideration when naming a caliber of a 'high powered rifle.'

I shoot a Remington 700 ADL in .270. I consider it 'high powered,' but there are alot of others on either side of a .270 that would be considered 'high powered', as well.

What would be the least caliber still considered to classify as high powered, and is it centerfire?

ANY COMMENTS??

 

[ColinthePilot]

Silver King is partially right. Any gun, long or short that the media SEES is a high powered Assault Weapon.
In my experience, my .22LR is decidedly low powered. My .380Auto is low powered. My 9mm and SKS are medium powered, along with .223Rem. My M1 Garand in 30.06 is high powered, along with a Mosin Nagant. I say if my shoulder hurts at the end of the day, its high powered. If not, its medium or less.

 

[RyanM]

Well, to answer the question that was actually, asked, I personally draw the line at about 2,000 ft-lbs.

Under 200 ft-lbs is a mousegun.
Under 500 ft-lbs is a service pistol.
Under 1,000 ft-lbs is a magnum pistol.
Under 2,000 ft-lbs is an intermediate rifle or "super" magnum pistol.
Under 3,000 ft-lbs or so is a high-powered rifle
3,000 ft-lbs and up, magnum rifle.

 

[TexasRifleman]

No no.... THIS is a high powered rifle.

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

It is a pretty nebulous term. In an older Handguns magazine article there was a photo of a watermelon splattered by a .30-30, and the caption read, "Even this fairly 'low powered' deer rifle hits harder than any handgun."

My personal definition (although it still leaves gaps) would be a centerfire of .25 caliber or larger.

 

[possom813]

high-pow·ered /ˈhaɪˈpaʊərd/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[hahy-pou-erd] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1. extremely energetic, dynamic, and capable: high-powered executives.
2. of a forceful and driving character: high-powered selling techniques.
3. capable of a high degree of magnification: a high-powered microscope.
4. very powerful.



rifle /ˈraɪfəl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[rahy-fuhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation noun, verb, -fled, -fling.
–noun
1. a shoulder firearm with spiral grooves cut in the inner surface of the gun barrel to give the bullet a rotatory motion and thus a more precise trajectory.
2. one of the grooves.
3. a cannon with such grooves.
4. (often initial capital letter) rifles, any of certain military units or bodies equipped with rifles.
–verb (used with object)
5. to cut spiral grooves within (a gun barrel, pipe, etc.).
6. to propel (a ball) at high speed, as by throwing or hitting with a bat.

 

[GBExpat]

... What would you guys refer to as a high powered rifle? ...

I would not use that terminology but when I hear the phrase I generally think "centerfire".